For Media Carré, 40-year-old legend Thiago Silva, ex-captain of Paris Saint-Germain, opened up. He tells us all about his arrival, his best and worst moments, Adrien Rabiot, Edinson Cavani and his victory over tuberculosis. Will he soon be reunited with the Parisian club for a belated farewell? Read our full transcript.
Thiago Silva “PSG, they’re in my heart”.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in your career?
I don’t know exactly, but one thing I can say is that when I left Brazil, I was very, very young. I went to a country I didn’t know, and that was dangerous for me. I knew what to expect from the city and then from Paris and then from London. It wasn’t easy at all.
For someone as shy as you?
Yes, especially knowing the city, because our culture is the opposite of Brazilian people. Especially in Paris. But once you get to know the city and start talking a little, things go much more smoothly. If I could say one thing, it was this.
What does PSG mean to you ?
It means a lot to me. It’s the club I’ve spent the most time with, it’s the city I’ve loved and the fans have loved seeing me play in a PSG shirt. I remember my first match at the Parc, a Champions League match in which I had the opportunity to score, and the crowd that day was magnificent. It was an unforgettable day for me and my family, and I think PSG are in my heart.
That will stay with me for the rest of my life. I’ve played for Chelsea, PSG, Milan and Fluminense, and it’s not easy to be a player for all four clubs and be a legend every time. I’m also a member of the Brazilian national team. I’m happy about that, because when I was a kid, I never imagined I’d have a career like this.
Thiago Silva “In my head, there was doubt”.
What’s your best PSG anecdote? The best laugh, the best moment, the craziest thing?
It’s crazy because the best moment and the worst moment is the Champions League final in 2020.
Your last match with PSG…
It’s crazy, but that week, you could say it like that, we reach the final, our dream is there and we lose the final, it’s the worst moment for me and it was my last match in this shirt. I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to the fans because of the pandemic.
Would you like to, or have you heard the fans asking for it?
Yes, a little.
Did it warm your heart? Would you like to come to the Parc des Princes to say your goodbyes ?
Of course, of course. Above all, because I just left Chelsea and I had the opportunity to do that. Saying goodbye to people was wonderful for me. But I couldn’t do it in Paris because of the pandemic, and I couldn’t do it in Milan because I didn’t know I could change clubs at the time.
Didn’t you want to come to PSG ?
Yes, I was happy in Milan, and for me it was a difficult change. In my head, I said to myself: what am I going to find in Paris? At the time, it was at the very beginning, Milan was Milan, PSG was a change of ownership and how we were going to roll things out. In my head, there was doubt.
Thiago Silva “I’m open with the club, I’m in contact with the president”.
There have been other PSG legends who haven’t had their goodbyes, there’s been Cavani, Neymar, Messi. Does PSG have trouble saying goodbye to its legends ?
I don’t think so, I don’t think so, we did it with David Beckham, we did it with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, we did it with Thiago Motta, we did it with Maxwell, we did it with Pastore too. I think maybe it wasn’t the right day for me because of the pandemic.
The pandemic ended a long time ago…
Yes, but at the time, it was 30% of the park, and it was my last friendly match, after which we went to Lisbon to play in the Final 8.
You could have come back since then, was it a long time ago ?
Yes, but I don’t think there was time.
In any case, do you agree ?
Of course, of course. I was with Chelsea and I couldn’t go to Paris to say goodbye like that, it was complicated. That’s why I’m open with the club, I’m in contact with the president, and I’m happy to see people on the Internet asking for it.
Thiago Silva “I enjoy watching the games”.
What do you think of the new PSG? Do you like this team, do you like this new project ?
Of course, of course, as they’re playing, it makes me happy to watch the games, all the games, I try to watch them. Because it’s wonderful to watch. But I think that all the legends who have come to Paris since the beginning, it was important for the image of the club today. You can’t forget everything they’ve done. It’s true that after that, you have to put the team together with a good scheme, because the image is already good.
They’ve changed this mentality a little and the idea of building players and making the team progress. Collectively, they’re very, very strong, because when you look at the team, you don’t just see one player making the difference. Of course, there’s Dembélé, but behind him, there’s a very strong team, a great goalkeeper, full-backs who go forward like crazy, others who play, it’s really a team.
It’s not just one player or a few players, and that makes me happy because it’s not easy to build a team. It’s not easy at all, but I think they’re on the right track at the moment.
Thiago Silva “It gives me the impression that this is the path I need to follow”.
What do you think of Luis Enrique’s work ?
I love Luis Enrique, because he’s done what he’s done. y was my worst match, with the remontada. We were 4-0 up at home and then it was difficult, not just for the match, but for everything we went through the week afterwards. Thiago Silva may not be a good captain, but the media were harsh and it was very hard for me. At the same time, as a player, you look at how we lost and why we lost.
When you look at the other team and how they played, how Neymar played, he took that team in hand in that match and I think that’s because of a good coach, Luis Enrique. Afterwards, I started to pay attention to him, I watched the Spanish national team even though they didn’t win the World Cup, and I really like the way he plays, and now with my favourite team too, he’s doing great, great things. It gives me the impression that this is the path I need to follow.
Can this be an example for you?
Of course, when I see how it plays. I know there are other ways of winning titles, but for me, that’s the way it is.
Marquinhos is the last survivor from your playing days, and there’s talk of him leaving.
I think there’s a great leader in this team and that’s Marquinhos. If people look at what I did in my last season, it was difficult and then they tried to find someone else the same age as me.
It gave me the impression that they’d made a mistake, in my opinion. And that comes from one person, Leonardo, and it’s crazy because he’s the one who brought me here from Milan. And then there’s this decision and it wasn’t after the Champions League, it was 3 months ago before this match.
Thiago Silva “Above all, Leonardo made a mistake”.
You were a class act because your contract expired on June 30 and you extended it by a month.
It’s strange because 3 months before, the same thing happened with Marquinhos, not with the club, but with the people in the press and so on. Thiago, you’re not going to be part of the team next year, you want to stay 2 months longer to play in the Champions League, because for example, Cavani isn’t going to extend, and you, question mark, I say yes, I’m going to continue until the end, I’m going to be here until the last day.
I had the impression that with Cavani, we could win for sure, because at the end of this season, we played the final at the Stade de France, Kylian, he got injured and we arrived to play the Champions League without Cavani. It was difficult to play without him. Because he was the matador for us, he scored almost every game, he was very professional and he gave everything for the team. I think it was difficult to go to Lisbon without him.
I think you have to think more carefully before making a decision. We have to be sure that it’s right for the club and I think that when I left it wasn’t very good. I’ve got nothing against Sergio Ramos, but he had the same game as me. That gave me the impression that the club, and Leonardo in particular, had made a mistake.
Was that a motivating factor for you?
Of course it was. The problem wasn’t the club, I think it was Leonardo.
Thiago Silva “It’s shocking to see a PSG kid in a Marseille shirt”.
How did Adrien Rabiot’s move to Marseille make you feel?
It hurts me, it hurts me. It hurts me because he could have done better with us and PSG, so he decided to leave. He didn’t get off to a very good start, it was his formative club and then, I don’t know exactly, but 6 or 7 years later, he’s back in France to play for PSG’s biggest rival. It’s everyone’s personal ambition, but it means a lot to me to see Adrien rabiot à Titi of Paris Saint-Germain in a Marseille shirt.
I’ve got nothing against Marseille, but I’m talking about the example we’re talking about. I don’t think a Marseille player is going to sign for PSG. 80% of players won’t accept. He’s a very, very good player, and for us, it was magnificent because after Matuidi, who plays in the same position, a year or two later, he left. He made the decision to leave and I know that with his quality, he could do a lot with the PSG shirt. And it’s shocking to see a PSG kid in a Marseille shirt.
Thiago Silva “I say the coach is impressive”.
Who’s your favorite player this year?
There are a lot of them. But I’d have to say Dembélé, because he’s understood everything he needs to do for the team. He’s taken charge of the team. He doesn’t play on his own; if he drops off a bit, there are other players who will take his place. He’s a team player and he’s clearly understood that the team needs him. I think he’s taken charge of this team and behind Marquinhos he’s doing the other things.
Is Pacho a pleasant surprise?
Yes, I didn’t know him before. He doesn’t look 22, but 25, 26. He plays with a lot of personality, he has a different vision of the game, but with his players who are young and if he’s playing well, it’s because there’s a leader out there and that’s why I say the coach is impressive.
People who understand the game like that have to pay attention to all the information the coach passes on. When I see Marquinhos playing with Pacho, everything seems to be automatic. When Hakimi goes up, Marquinhos goes straight to Hakimi’s place and Pacho comes into the middle. For me, this is a team that does tactical work very, very well. It’s not just about going to training, it’s about doing magnificent things.
Who’s your favorite for the Ballon d’Or, can Ousmane get it?
There’s a big possibility, and it depends on whether he wins the Champions League or not. On the other hand, there’s Yamal and Raphinha. I think it’ll be one of the three. It depends on who wins the Champions League. When you win, all eyes are on you.
What clubs could you have signed with?
I think when I was in the process of signing my account with PSG, Barcelona, they were interested. It was difficult for me because, at the time, I was extending my contract with Milan and that was a bit of a problem. My dream was to play for Barcelona. When the opportunity arose, I thought about it for a while, but Galliani extended my contract with AC Milan.
Afterwards, I was told I could leave and the team that could pay for me was PSG. And they told me to go because they couldn’t afford to pay. At that point, Barça pulled out of the negotiations and Leonardo brought me in, even though I had my doubts.
He spoke to me very well about the project, the team, everything that could happen, and I made my decision to go to Paris, and I was very happy to go there too, but it’s true that a month before, I could have made the decision to go to Barcelona.
Thiago Silva “People always think like that and buy cars, they don’t try to do things for the future”.
Who’s the best defender in the world in 2025, as you were once considered the best defender in the world?
Marquinhos, I’m a huge fan of his. Van Dijk, Gabriel before he got injured was very, very good too. The two Barcelona defenders are very good. Rudiger, because he’s impressive. He usually has good seasons, but this year in Madrid it’s a bit complicated, but he’s got great character to help the team. I don’t know if I’ve forgotten anyone, but it’s a bit like that
You’ve invested a lot in recovery and professionalism, and you’ve set an example. Can you tell us about your routine, your professionalism and the influence you had on others?
I don’t think I was paying attention to that, that I could be a reference for people. Today, I’m more aware of that and that I was one of the first players to buy the Hyperbariks. Afterwards, people asked a lot about how much it cost, and when I said, that’s it, people left. The smallest I bought was $20,000 plus oxygen, about $5,000. Today, I don’t know how much it costs.
Is it true you didn’t know you could sleep in it?
No, I didn’t at first. I’d come in and look up because it was all closed up and I’d think, what’s this? Then I realized that staying like that for 12 hours was impossible, so I asked a friend if I could use the phone. I asked if I could sleep in it and was told yes, but for the first month, it was difficult for me to be quiet in it because it was so small. 2 years later, I bought a bigger one and it was incredible.
Nowadays, people say it’s too expensive, but yes, it’s expensive, but you can extend your career. People, they always think like that and they buy cars, they don’t try to do things for the future and today, you see at 40, I’m still playing. If it hadn’t been for that, I could have finished my career at 35. That’s just the way it is.
Thiago Silva “When you win against illness, that’s the greatest trophy”.
What’s the worst pain in your career, tuberculosis, the World Cup at home, or the remontada with PSG?
All three moments… We’ll go by elimination, I think the World Cup at home was very difficult, but it wasn’t one of the most difficult moments. Because I didn’t have the opportunity to play that famous match, it was quieter for me to see the situation. I felt it more in Qatar because the team was more ready to win. In Brazil, the team was still in training and you accept more what happened.
Between the tuberculosis and the final… I think the worst moment was the tuberculosis, because as I often say, in soccer you lose, you win, it’s part of the game. But when you win against the disease that was almost wiping out my life – I was almost ready to die at that point – that was the worst moment for me. I’ve already won and lost a lot, but that’s soccer, that’s what we do. Of course you always want to win, but that’s soccer, but when you win against illness, that’s the greatest trophy I’ve won in my life.
